Gardening Soul: 23 Insanely Clever Gardening Ideas on Low Budget

There are lots of useful tips and ideas in this post.

https://gardeningsoul.com/23-insanely-clever-gardening-ideas-on-low-budget/


My three favorites:

Honestly, shoe organizers are great for organizing other things as well, such as crafting supplies,  but this might really work and be great.   You could hang it anywhere and move it as needed to get the right amount of sun.

This is pretty brilliant.  It's always hard for me to get the soil in a bed all nice and perfectly level when planting seeds, this would take care of that, flattening an entire area equally.

The small albums are nice for a refined subject, and perfectly sized for this method of seed organization.

Plant People: John Whittlesey

While looking up mail order plant nurseries recently, I searched for an old favorite, Canyon Creek Nursery.  They had a small but fascinating catalog.  One of my favorite plants from the nursery were violets.  I always wanted to try Parma Violets, but didn’t have the confidence that I could succeed with them.  If I had it to do over, I’d grow them in containers as annuals.  In those days I did no outdoor container gardening,

Unfortunately, Canyon Creek is no more.  I found a wonderful article on the founder, John Whittlesey.  It gives a background on John and the nursery, and what he was involved with after the nursery closed.

https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/the-educational-journey-of-a-plantsman-john-wittlesey-2/


He now has a landscape design business

http://www.canyoncreeknurserydesign.com/

Grandma in the Garden

My lovely grandmother is on the right in this old photo of two charming girls enjoying the garden.

So Many Plants

You know how nice and open everything seems when you buy a new house?

Oops! Next thing you know...

Created with Make Belief Comix   https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

Perennial Plant of the Year for 2019

The Perennial Plant association looks for plants that grow reliably in a variety of environments, among other criteria:

• Suitability for a wide range of climatic conditions
•  Low-maintenance requirements
•  Relative pest- and disease-resistance
•  Ready availability in the year of promotion
•  Multiple seasons of ornamental interest

For 2019 the choice was Stachys Hummelo, a slow spreading purple flowered plant.

If you're starting a new garden or are looking to add beautiful new plants, this list is a good starting place.   Note they also list the choices back to 1990 on a separate tab.

https://perennialplant.org/page/PPOY

Sunday Dreaming: Ten From The Past

This week, a look at nice things from my gardens past.  2019 was an awful year in the garden.  I can look at what worked well in the past, and try to recreate some of it perhaps.

 

Seed Companies

I've gathered a list of twenty two seed companies for you to peruse online, and order their catalogs if you wish.   My sidebar list should be helpful if you're looking for particular varieties, or want to compare prices.

Everyone has their favorite companies, and you can find may lists of recommendations at this time of year.  Many of my own favorites and those I've seen recommended by others are on the list.  Make good use of this as a resource whether you're new to seed starting or are already quite seedy.

Seed Inventory

I took a quick look at last season's seeds that will still be good to use this season.  I've set up my light stand in my craft room.  Of course there's no room in here. And it's COLD.  Even so, my seedlings stand a far better chance of thriving in this space than anywhere else in the house.

A gardener does what a gardener needs to do.


Here are some of the seeds that can go in seed trays soon or in warmer weather.

Once I scanned the packets, I thought I'd use some of the pictures on colored printer paper for papercrafting.  They look quite charming!

Garden Treasure Hunting

I love the Flea Market Gardening page.  They find ways use all sorts of commonplace objects artfully in the garden.

There was an article on finding glass containers as cloches.  I use gallon milk jugs, but that’s not so pretty.

https://www.fleamarketgardening.org/2015/03/21/garden-cloche-vintage-beauty-under-glass/

Since I was out and about, I visited a thrift shop looking for some nice big glass object that could be a cloche.  I found a nice one that is light weight enough so I don’t need to worry about ease of lifting it on and off of a plant.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have grabbed a cart.

You see garden pictures all of the time with old metal colanders used as planters.  I’m painting this pink.

The article mentioned chicken wire cloches, which would be great protection, but chicken wire is so hard to work with.   How about something metal, which can keep the beasts and bunnies away, and let in light and water?

I’m sure there’s also a spot in the garden for these as well.  Or in the garden shed.

In The Mailbox: Brent and Becky's Summer Flowering Bulb Catalog 2020

What better place to start your summer bulb dreaming than with Brent and Becky's catalog?  I'm still not recovered from all the digging that went on in my vegetable garden last year, and pershaps this isn't the year to get back to bulbs....but I'm in the mood.

   

I'd like to try Japanese Painted Fern again.

  

Caladiums look good anywhere you place them.  

I have a weakness for Begonias, and one they list, "Harmony's Fire Woman"  is purple and lavender, rather than the red you'd expect from the name. 

Waterlogue

Waterlogue is a photo effects app that turns pictures into watercolor washed works of art.

Here’s our original, followed by a couple of the same picture using various filters.

Sometimes I get carried away.

 It doesn’t tend to work well on people!